


Unforgiveable

by ElizaSam



Series: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Angst Go Down (Malec) [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Alec Lightwood, Cheating, Drunk Alec Lightwood, Drunk Magnus Bane, Drunk Sex, Hurt Magnus Bane, M/M, Mistakes, One Night Stands, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26209663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaSam/pseuds/ElizaSam
Summary: Alec had slept with another man.He’d had sex with a man who was not Magnus. He had allowed another person to touch his skin, to mark his skin, in places only Magnus had seen, and he had been penetrated in depths only Magnus had touched.ORAlec and Magnus fight. Magnus gets drunk and passes out. Alec gets drunk and makes a colossal mistake.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Angst Go Down (Malec) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835383
Comments: 14
Kudos: 57





	Unforgiveable

**Can we talk?**

Magnus swallowed heavily, bile rising in his throat, as he stared at the message on his phone screen. The notification was stark; black letters that seemed to bend and blur against the photo background of Alec and him.

In the picture, Alec’s eyes were squished closed, his head halfway tilted back as a laugh bubbled out his throat. A grin was spread wide across his face, and the small dimple he always hid was lightly visible at the left corner of his mouth. Magnus’s face was turned toward the subject of the photo, his lips pressed against Alec’s cheek as a hand pulled him closer.

Magnus remembered taking that photo. It’d been a night in, just for themselves. They’d had noodles and spring rolls- a nod to Magnus’s heritage- in between sips of wine. He remembered kissing Alec on the couch, things getting a little heated, only to find cool wine being pushed through his lips and exploding on his tongue. His Shadowhunter had been a little too proud of himself, tipsy and giggly on the sweet wine.

It was one of Magnus’s favorite pictures and favorite memories of them together. No posing, no obligations. Just pure, uninhibited joy preserved at the perfect moment in time.

And then the moment had ended.

Alec had worked late. Magnus had yet to clean up the remains of a failed potion. They’d both forgotten about the dinner reservation made the week before.

When stress met more stress, it had exploded and taken the pair hostage.

Between Alec’s fierce passion and Magnus’s sarcastic self-preservation, both had said things they didn’t mean. A briefcase had been tossed aside in the anger, and a door had been slammed on the way out.

Rashness and offense were to blame for the flurry of text messages that followed, most in all caps, none very kind.

Neither of the two were unfamiliar with arguments, although they did not occur very often, and each had their own coping strategies.

Magnus sought out alcohol and his friends. He’d spent the night wallowing in remorse and self-pity, perpetuated by a large bottle of whisky. By the time sunlight peeled through the drapes, he was passed out on the couch, unaware of Raphael cleaning up the living room or Catarina stroking the matted hair from his face as it lay cradled in her lap.

Alec found refuge in his siblings. When Izzy had proved missing, he’d found Jace in the training room.

That was his first mistake.

Jace, having just been kicked out of the bedroom by Clary, was also upset and in need of a release, which was how the two brothers found themselves at a club. Upon arrival, Jace had immediately disappeared into the crowd and left Alec to mope at the bar.

Alec was a lightweight. He despised the blinding numbness that came with being drunk and hardly ever had more than one or two drinks. The rare occasions where he did indulge were all within the confines of his and Magnus’s apartment. Only when safe, both physically and emotionally, did Alec truly let go.

Unfortunately, dulling the pain sounded like a good plan that night, and Alec quickly found himself surrendering his wits and reasoning as the empty glasses in front of him multiplied. 

That was his second mistake. 

_Two glasses. Four glasses. Seven glasses._

When Magnus woke the next day, he was hungover and ashamed. He and Alec loved each other. They were not Magnus and Alec; they were MagnusandAlec. Tied at the hip, able to overcome all the challenges that had threatened their relationship in the past. It was silly to fight over something so small, so trivial, and Magnus felt the overwhelming urge to cradle Alec close and apologize.

When Alec woke the next day, he was confused and disoriented. The room was unfamiliar, and the sheets were made of cotton, not silk like he knew the ones on his and Magnus’s bed were. An odd smell hung in the air. Though almost recognizable, a note of it seemed off.

When Alec attempted to roll over, he found a weight on his hip. It was an arm, pale and freckly. _No,_ he thought to himself, _that’s not right._ Magnus’s skin was golden and unblemished, and it didn’t itch the way this arm’s hair did.

At that point, Alec discovered his own nakedness. It was a slow realization. As horror spread through his body, he found himself paralyzed.

The sheets were rough against his legs, and he could feel the clammy skin of one thigh against the other. There was an uncomfortable pressure on his back, almost as if something were leaning on it, and he could feel air moving around himself where boxers would usually be. The damn arm was still thrown over his waist and... _oh god._

Alec could feel hardness pressing in the cleft of his backside, skin on heated skin.

There was still wetness there, dried in spots on his lower back and trailing down to where the offensive body part lay, as if the other man had been too lazy or too out of it to clean either person up. Worst of all, Alec slowly recognized the scent lingering in the air of the dirty, dingy room.

It was sex.

The smell permeated the air, heavy and bitter and seedy. It was nothing like the scent left behind when he and Magnus woke together, limbs tangled.

It was at that moment that Alec’s phone rang.

The ringtone broke through the numbness in Alec’s mind. He threw the sheets back, scrambling away from the body that had been cradling him, touching him, in ways only Magnus was allowed. 

The other man groaned into consciousness as the bed dipped and the warmth left.

Alec ransacked the mess on the floor, frantically throwing clothes out of the way as he searched for his phone. It rang again before he found it, answering the call immediately and turning away from the used condoms he’d unearthed in the search.

“Hello?”

“Alexander?”

“Magnus, Magnus hi.”

“Hi. Can we, can you come over? I’m so sorry about last night and-“

“I’m sorry too, Magnus. I didn’t mean anything I said.”

“Me either, darling. Come over, okay? And we can talk about it-“

In his eagerness to speak with Magnus, Alec had forgotten his current predicament. The off-white walls, the discarded fast food containers in the corner, the twinge in his backside when he stood from the bed had all seemed to disappear.

But none of it had.

It was all real and all present.

Alec had slept with another man.

He’d had sex with a man who was not Magnus. He had allowed another person to touch his skin, to mark his skin, in places only Magnus had seen, and he had been penetrated in depths only Magnus had touched.

Alec had attained pleasure at the hands of a person other than the man he loved.

And it was only when that person grunted “Who’s that?” that it actually sunk in.

Silence.

“Alec... it sounds like there’s something in the background.”

The rustling of sheets as the other man sat up and placed a slimy, vile hand on Alec’s shoulder.

“Who’re you talking to, babe?”

Silence.

“Alec, is there someone there? Are- are you with someone?”

“Mag-“

“Damn, you already leaving? I was hoping to get one more round in. We can be fast; you’re probably still loose enough. Think your boyfriend can wait?”

The line went dead.

Suddenly, Alec was alone, phone still frozen by his ear.

His head pounded, still hungover. His body shuddered as the disgusting leech of a person kneeled next to him. His nose suffocated from the scent of his mistake.

But the crack as his heart broke and fell into his stomach was the loudest of all.

**Author's Note:**

> I do already have an idea of how the second chapter will go, but please feel free to let me know if there's something you'd like to see! 
> 
> Also, this is a different voice/tone than I typically use, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Let me know if you think it worked or if I should just stick with what I know! :)


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